After a traumatic health episode occurred on a seemingly ordinary Sunday night for a North Texas couple, they were inspired to teach the rest of the community CPR.
John and Lauren Tabler were watching TV and relaxing on the couch when Lauren noticed John had passed out beside her. Lauren instinctively knew John was not sleeping; her husband was in serious trouble.
“I didn’t know exactly what had happened, but I knew something was not right,” Lauren told WFAA.
“Just that gut instinct. So, I immediately called 911, 911 helped me assess that he didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing. I didn’t know what to do. 911 is already on the way. They said you need to get him on the ground and start CPR,” she added.
Tabler stated she was confused about how the incident occurred, noting that they were an active, healthy, young couple.
Lauren administered CPR on John until the paramedics arrived, shocking him back to life.
After his heart attack, John was in the ICU for one week and had a full cognitive recovery. John went home with “LifeVest,” or a wearable external defibrillator until he had a cardiac MRI. Tests confirmed John had inflammation in his heart, which sparked the cardiac arrest.
The couple decided to become CPR-certified & AED trainers and even created their own program to spread knowledge to others.
“We said if we have one call to action from all our friends and family, go take a CPR training course because the more that we learned, the more that we understood how that quick action CPR helped keep John alive and saved his life,” Lauren said, according to WFAA.
Vital Functions, Lauren and John Tabler’s company, offers fun-filled CPR classes in homes and businesses.
The couple mixes games and interactive questions in a friendly environment while incorporating CPR training. They want their clients to feel like they are spending time with friends while learning.
“For that reason, we teach hands-only CPR in the spirit of keeping things simple, practical, and approachable for the everyday person, just like us,” their website states.
To learn CPR and learn more about classes, check out the couple’s website HERE.